Gang members accused of murder during drug deal

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With a one-two punch of sorts, police moved against two of the city's most violent street gangs Wednesday.

Two new indictments, one against the Bailey Boys and one against the LRGP Crew, up the ante in the government's ongoing prosecution of the East Side gangs.

The new charges include allegations that Bailey Boys members Rayshod Washington and Raymel Weeder killed Fred Rozier in February of last year as part of a drug ripoff that went bad.

The new indictment also charges Bailey Boys member Tyriq Brown, 20, with the shooting and wounding of a rival gang member in July of 2011 on Kensington Avenue, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony M. Bruce said.

The new charges mean the Bailey Boys now stand accused of three murders and six shootings, including a shooting that occurred during a neighborhood party with children present.

So far, two gang members have been convicted.

“Today's developments add to the over 140 gang members we've charged to date, individuals responsible for numerous murders, attempted murders and other acts of violence in our neighborhoods,” U.S. Attorney William J, Hochul Jr. said in a statement. “And the community should know that these efforts will only continue.”

The Bailey Boys operate in a neighborhood bounded by Winspear Avenue, the Kensington Expressway, Eggert Road and Main Street.

A separate indictment involving the LRGP Crew charges three new gang members and associates with racketeering stemming from their participation in illegal activities such as cocaine trafficking and conspiracy to murder rival gang members.

The indictment also means 10 previously charged defendants will face new charges.

Dewayne Gray was the leader of LRGP from 2009 until early 2012 and oversaw the sale of crack cocaine from gang-controlled residences on Memorial Drive, Sobieski Street and Meyers Street, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McCabe said.

McCabe said gang members also conspired to kill a rival gang member, Amir Chambers, who was shot and killed in April of 2011 on Mills Street.

“Our gang investigations continue to clear cold case homicides that may not have been solved otherwise,” Christopher M. Piehota, Special Agent in Charge of the Buffalo FBI Office, said in a statement: “Not only do we arrest gang members, but we can provide the victims' family members with some amount of closure.”

LRGP is named after the turf where it once operated, an area bounded by Lombard, Rother, Gibson and Playter Streets.

The LRGP indictment follows the arrest last August of several gang members and a Houston, Texas man accused of being one of their major drug suppliers.

Both indictments are the work of the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, the same group that oversaw the dismantling of the 7th and 10th Street gangs on the city's West Side.

The task force works with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Erie County District Attorney's Office, Buffalo Police, Erie County Sheriff's Office, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New York State Police.